The Indian government has proposed changes to extend its regulatory framework to a wider range of online news voices, including influencers and podcasters on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and X.
Last week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) suggested amendments to India’s IT rules – which govern digital media content – to include “users who are not publishers” who share content related to “news and current affairs” within a “code of ethics” it currently applies to registered news publishers.
Experts say this will potentially give the government more power over news-related posts shared by ordinary users, including independent journalists and podcasters.
The government has proposed requiring social media platforms to follow orders and guidelines if they want to keep “safe harbour” protection – legal immunity from liability for content posted by users.
The proposed amendments have alarmed digital rights activists and independent news creators, who say they could enforce near-total compliance with state-led censorship on social media platforms. They also warn that the rules could be misused to target critics and clamp down on dissent.
The government says the amendments will strengthen existing IT rules and curb fake news, hate speech and deepfakes, and has invited public feedback by 14 April.
But critics remain sceptical of the government’s stated intentions.
Akash Banerjee, who runs the YouTube channel The Deshbhakt with more than six million subscribers, says the rules could create a climate of fear, pushing many creators toward self-censorship.
“Interestingly, despite the many laws regulating online content, hate speech and fake news haven’t reduced in the country. Meanwhile, posts that are critical of the government – even if they’re satirical – are increasingly being blocked or removed,” Banerjee says. The authorities reject the charge.
Last month, X blocked about a dozen accounts, many known for satirical posts about the government, acting on orders issued under Section 69A of India’s IT Act.
Nikhil Pahwa, a digital rights activist, says the proposed amendments to the IT rules only strengthen the government’s existing “infrastructure for mass censorship”.
In an article co-authored with Apar Gupta, founder of the Internet Freedom Foundation, in the Times of India newspaper, Pahwa traces how successive amendments to the IT rules – introduced in 2021 – have expanded the government’s control over online content and diminished users’ rights.
A 2021 amendment brought digital news outlets under government oversight, while a 2025 change strengthened the federal home ministry’s Sahyog portal – a centralised platform that allows a number of agencies to issue takedown notices to social media companies with limited transparency and fewer safeguards, say the authors.
This portal functions as a parallel mechanism for removing content, distinct from the blocking powers granted to the federal government under Section 69A of the IT Act.
The IT rules were amended yet again in early 2026, where the window for social media firms to comply with government blocking orders was reduced from 36 to three hours, severely reducing the scope for legal review. (BBC)